Ignition problem with a Ruger Old Army

[davefitz66]

Who knew that a request for information would take that left hand turn! Anyway, to get back to my original question, when people say "fettling the nipples" what do they exactly mean? I am fairly certain that the hammer is still working as it should and that the nipples are the correct Ruger originals (they have the original nut type configuration, rather than the Colt type key. As an aside, does anyone else consider the Ruger nipple key that came with the Old Army the worst thing they make? I know I do. Talk about rounding them off!) So I really need to know what to do with the nipples to get this working again. I have bought a yoga mat and will be stamping out my own wads soon as per Steve's suggestion. Do you use any type of lube on those wads Steve? I am going to be doing some intensive testing bullet vs ball as soon as I sort the reliability issue out.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Dave

[sclg]

Who knew that a request for information would take that left hand turn! Anyway, to get back to my original question, when people say "fettling the nipples" what do they exactly mean? I am fairly certain that the hammer is still working as it should and that the nipples are the correct Ruger originals (they have the original nut type configuration, rather than the Colt type key. As an aside, does anyone else consider the Ruger nipple key that came with the Old Army the worst thing they make? I know I do. Talk about rounding them off!) So I really need to know what to do with the nipples to get this working again. I have bought a yoga mat and will be stamping out my own wads soon as per Steve's suggestion. Do you use any type of lube on those wads Steve? I am going to be doing some intensive testing bullet vs ball as soon as I sort the reliability issue out.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Dave

Agree about the nipple key! I bought one of these...
http://www.henrykrank.com/index.php?...roducts_id=179
... which has worked well for me on ROA, Le Page, Jim Greathead underhammer, Colt revolver, etc, etc.
No, I don't use lube on the wads.
You will find much useful advice about the ROA on the web. A lot of it is written be highly experienced shooters but some is written by idiots so always use your own common sense and look for a consensus of opinion. ... although I'll admit that is sometimes hard to find!
One thing I do recall from my reading a few years ago was a feeling that bullets were only better than ball at fairly high loads and that most who used them were hunting things other than paper targets! Never tried bullets myself.
Steve

[enfield2band]

Who knew that a request for information would take that left hand turn! Anyway, to get back to my original question, when people say "fettling the nipples" what do they exactly mean? I am fairly certain that the hammer is still working as it should and that the nipples are the correct Ruger originals (they have the original nut type configuration, rather than the Colt type key. As an aside, does anyone else consider the Ruger nipple key that came with the Old Army the worst thing they make? I know I do. Talk about rounding them off!) So I really need to know what to do with the nipples to get this working again. I have bought a yoga mat and will be stamping out my own wads soon as per Steve's suggestion. Do you use any type of lube on those wads Steve? I am going to be doing some intensive testing bullet vs ball as soon as I sort the reliability issue out.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Dave

Are you using a "yoga mat" to cut out your wads?

Why not just melt an inch of lead in a pan, tip it out when it has cooled, and use that. As it gets well used just melt it again.

When someone says fettle the nipples they generally mean make sure there are no burrs on them. Hone off any excessive wear if it is not detrimental to the ignition, make sure the threads are clean and make sure the flash hole is clear.

[davefitz66]

Hi again,
2 band, I am actually cutting the wads out of the yoga mat as they will better fill the space in the cylinder. As I say I will be doing some research on what works best for me when I resolve the issues. I was using the home cast bullets from the Lee mould, but I have gone back to using balls now, as the recoil using a bullet and the recommended 777 load was a tooth rattler. I also have two of the Uberti Cattleman revolvers, a 7 and a half inch and a 5 and a half inch one. They are good fun to shoot, but for accuracy I would always go to the Rogers and Spencer. But at Bisley this year the shooter next to me had a great result with his Ruger Old Army at the advancing target and I wondered why I wasn't making better use of A fine gun. Any and all advice greatly appreciated by the way.
Cheers
Dave.

[simgre]

A yoga mat?! A rubber and polyurethane yoga mat? Seriously.....?

[stonecutter]

Can you post pics when you start to fettle your nipples please ooh erh missus!

[kenj]

Have you tried caps on a empty cylinder to burn oil out and can you see the nipples are clear could be the problem not the caps

[tacfoley]

Non-dead tac here.

I have three sets of Butler Creek/Uncle Mikes stainless steel replacement ROA nipples, and two suitable wrenches.

PM me for details if you are interested.

Note that they ARE true replacements - hexagonal bolsters and all. I've been shooting mine for some ten years nw with no problems of any kind - CCI #11 caps, BTW.

Here is a handy tint and hip, as I suspect that there are folks here who are trying to bolt down the nipples as though they are meant to hold down an airship in a hurricane.

1. After cleaning them, just touch their threads to the edge of pot of Copperslip, or whatever you have over here like it.

2. Turn the nipple into the threads and just hold the cylinder with a 'shaking hands with your bank manager' grip.

3. When the cylinder starts to rotate - stop.

4. That's enough torquing.

tac

[tacfoley]

Have you tried caps on a empty cylinder to burn oil out and can you see the nipples are clear could be the problem not the caps

That is what you do before you ever start loading for a shooting session.

tac

[tacfoley]

Who knew that a request for information would take that left hand turn! Anyway, to get back to my original question, when people say "fettling the nipples" what do they exactly mean? I am fairly certain that the hammer is still working as it should and that the nipples are the correct Ruger originals (they have the original nut type configuration, rather than the Colt type key. As an aside, does anyone else consider the Ruger nipple key that came with the Old Army the worst thing they make? I know I do. Talk about rounding them off!) So I really need to know what to do with the nipples to get this working again. I have bought a yoga mat and will be stamping out my own wads soon as per Steve's suggestion. Do you use any type of lube on those wads Steve? I am going to be doing some intensive testing bullet vs ball as soon as I sort the reliability issue out.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon.
Dave

Yup. Don't be busting that hammer - there are positively no more.

tac

[tacfoley]

'kay, Gentlemen - ONE set of nipples left and TWO wrenches - get'em while you can.

tac

[weebeestie]

Nipples for me please.

[tacfoley]

...and that's all folks....

tac

[lostcat]

Bit late to chip in but, You may find CCI are made from a thicker copper makig them a little tougher.
The gap that prevents nipple damage does not help.
The coil spring design seems a little less snappy than Remingtn or R & S.
That and an oversize nipple should be enough to need a few hits before ignition.
Batches vary too,getting good reliability is part of muzzle loading but is acheivable.

[tacfoley]

CCI = Okay, but nothing special.

Remington = more reliable for the reasons in the post above.

RWS = Best of them all - buy ALL that you can.

tac